Greystone Mansion & Park
905 Loma Vista Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
* Google Maps aerial view
* Google Maps street view – entrance
* Google Maps street view – parking lot
History – written by Richard Alleman
Greystone was originally the name of the huge 400-acre Beverly Hills ranch of the Edward L. Doheny (oil and later real estate) family. Doheny built the magnificent fifty-five-room stone mansion in the late twenties for his only son, E. L. Doheny Jr. Three weeks after the younger Doheny moved into Greystone with his wife and five children, both he and his male secretary were found dead in Doheny’s bedroom. The official version of the story says that the secretary shot Doheny and then himself when Doheny refused to give him a raise. Another version of the events suggests that Doheny and his secretary were lovers… and that it was Doheny who fired both shots, possibly because he feared that their affair was about to be discovered by his family.
No matter what really happened in 1928 in Doheny’s bedroom, Greystone remains one of Beverly Hills’ most impressive estates – and unlike its counterparts, this is one great property that is open to the public. That’s because the City of Beverly Hills bought Greystone and eighteen of its original 400 acres in the mid-1960s. (Most of the rest of the acreage has been used for the ultra-exclusive development called Trousdale Estates, former residents of which include Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley.) In 1971, Greystone’s grounds were made a public park, while the main house served as the headquarters for the American Film Institute’s film school. After the AFI moved to East Hollywood in 1983, the City of Beverly Hills restored the mansion to its original condition, which made it even more desirable for location shoots.
[This text comes from Richard Alleman’s 2005 book “Hollywood: The Movie Lover’s Guide – The Ultimate Insider Tour Of Movie L.A.“.]
Fun Facts
Mission: Impossible: “Operation Rogosh” (October 1, 1966, Season 1)
Imre Rogosh (Fritz Weaver) is an operative whom the I.M.F. team believes is in Los Angeles to carry out a devistating attack. Since he will not crack under normal interrogation methods, Daniel Briggs (Steven Hill) comes up with the unusual plan of staging an accident in which Rogosh is struck by a car while crossing the street. When he awakes, he appears to be in a prison in his home country, three years later. In actually, Briggs and the team created a fake prison in a Los Angeles mansion; specially the Greystone. A gallows is erected in the courtyard that is seen behind the police car in Ghostbusters II, while Briggs comes out from the porte-cochère/portico that the Ghostbusters entered and looks, through bars, into the courtyard. Simply put, the Mission: Impossible cameras face the opposute direction of the Ghostbusters II camera.
Mission: Impossible: The Complete Original TV Series is available on Blu-Ray (reviewed by me here) and DVD, or you can just buy the Season 1 DVD set.
Mission: Impossible: “The Legacy” (January 7, 1967, Season 1)
The I.M.F. must thwart four young Nazis from claiming Hitler’s fortune, which they plan to use to finance a Fourth Reich. The four Nazis plan to meet at the Maximilian statue in Zurich Schloss. The statue was erected in the courtyard at the Greystone, where a gallows was built in a previous episode. A tour group, which includes agent Rollin Hand (Martin Landau), is lead out of the porte-cochère/portico and over to the statue. Rollin spies the four Nazis leaving a mark on the base of the statue, which he “completes” in order to signal that he is one of them, as part of his undercover operation. He leaves back through the porte-cochère/portico, going in the same direction the police car did in Ghostbusters II. Another part of the mansion grounds is used for a cemetery scene later.
Mission: Impossible: The Complete Original TV Series is available on Blu-Ray (reviewed by me here) and DVD, or you can just buy the Season 1 DVD set.
Stripes (1981)
John (Bill Murray) and Russell (Harold Ramis) meet up with their dates, Stella (P.J. Soles) and Louise (Sean Young), at the Schloss Von Hapsburg resort in Germany. The resort, of course, is the Greystone Mansion in AMERICA! You can buy the movie on DVD (Theatrical Cut) and Blu-ray (Extended Cut). Just avoid the Extended Cut DVD for the reasons I give in my Blu-Ray review.
Who’s Harry Crumb? (1989)
After their harrowing ride in a car with no brakes, Harry Crumb (John Candy) and Nikki Downing (Shawnee Smith) meet back at her family’s mansion to discuss the case of her kidnapped sister. While the University Women’s Club of Vancouver at 1489 McRae Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada was the Downing mansion in most shots, for this one scene, the Greystone Mansion was used. I suspect that it was a pick-up scene done later after the principal photography had finished in Canada. You can buy the movie on Blu-ray (reviewed by me here) and DVD.
The Holiday (2006)
Graham (Jude Law) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) go on a dinner date at a fancy restaurant, which is actually the Greystone Mansion’s Drawing Room. You can watch the scene online, or buy the movie on Blu-ray, DVD, a two-disc Blu-ray Double Feature with Hitch (starring Will Smith and several NYC filming locations), or a one-disc DVD Double Feature with Christmas With The Kranks (starring Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Dan Aykroyd).
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